Talk:Drew-Bianca Relationship/@comment-3284502-20140702234555
Because Ash is mean and made me write an essay about them, I figure it might as well be on their page. :P On The Matter of Drianca "You need to start believing that you deserve happiness because you do" - Drew to Bianca in Hollaback Girl (1) http://degrassi.wikia.com/wiki/File:180px-Ep236.pngWhen it comes to Drianca, there is plenty to be said. They fight a lot, Drew isn't good enough for her, they homewreck a lot, etc. But is that all there is to them? Frankly, I don't believe it is. When I look at Drianca, I don't see any of the bad. All I can see is one of the best love stories on this show. Possibly THE best. At least, I think it is. In my opinion, there has never been a couple with more love between them on this show than Drianca. When it comes to fiction, we hear a LOT about love. Couples of all kinds talk about how much they love each other, how much they need each other, how they would do anything to be together, etc. That's fine, it's the stuff OTPs are made of. But at the same time, there are couples strong enough where we don't need to be told these things, because we can see it and more importantly, we can feel their love as if it is real. In my life, I've only seen this in three couples: Newsflash, Bade, and Drianca. What sets Drianca apart in particular is that they've faced those situations where they have to do "anything" for each other. And when it came down to it they didn't just talk the talk, they walked the fucking walk. That picture in the upper right corner just about kills me. It's the way they look at each other. Because they didn't know. They didn't know that they would hook up in the boiler room. They didn't know that they'd be together. They didn't know they'd fall in love. They didn't know they'd go through hell. They didn't know they would almost get married. They didn't know they would do such a good job helping each other grow up that they would start to grow apart. They didn't know they would end. That image up there just about kills me because they. Didn't. Know. And how could they? I will admit Drianca did not have the greatest start. Cheating in the Boiler room, Drew? Not your proudest moment. The way he treated her afterwards was both hypocritical and inexcusable. And what made Bianca stand out was she challenged that. "I'm not a slut - you came to me." How true, Bianca. That was the first of many, MANY times where Bianca called Drew out on his crap and didn't let him get away with it. That's an important aspect of Drianca, for me. They DON'T let each other get away with it. They call each other out and challenge each other to do better. Bianca wouldn't let Drew shove all the blame on her for Vegas Night. Drew wouldn't let Bianca sit in her own self-hatred. Bianca wouldn't let Drew make himself into a joke. Drew wouldn't let Bianca condemn herself to "not good enough". They refuse to let each other be anything less than their best. But they have fun together too. Bianca even mentions that as her reason for pursuing him after Vegas Night's disaster - "We had a lot of fun together. We could have a lot more." And that's what they began as. An easy, fun relationship free of all the judging they both knew. Both of these characters have self-worth issues from hell. Drew's been told his entire life what he's not - not smart enough, not ambitious enough, not mature enough, not wilfull enough, not determined enough, and, in his mind, not GOOD enough. Bianca's been told she's too slutty, too pushy, too angry, too cruel, too mean, too vicious - once again, simply not good enough.The two of them dealt with this in fascinating, but ultimately opposite ways. Drew focused on resisting what people said about him. He strives to show people that he IS good enough. He crafted an image for himself to aspire to - a stereotypical "ideal" man. He wasn't very academic, true, so he focused on two things he knew for certain: he was good at sports and girls thought he was cute. By being the stereotypical jock, he could be popular, he could be happy, and most importantly, he could be accepted. Bianca did the opposite. Rather than fight what people said, it appears she went along with it. She embraced the idea of "then let me be evil" and behaved the way people expected her too - which, in turn, fuelled the rumour mill surrounding her even more. Their relationship, centered around fun dates free of expectations, was the perfect escape from their lives of judgement. It offered them a way out. But nothing "fun" lasts forever. Drew and Bianca both wanted the same thing - acceptance. Drew achieved his with his image that he worked for - a relatively nice, cute, jock. A commonly accepted social archtype. Bianca didn't want that. She didn't want to act a certain way for acceptance, but she didn't know how to get it on her own, encouraging her to turn back to her crutches - drugs, alcohol, sex, and fights. The very things people both expected her to get into and the things that fuelled further backlash against her. Drew offered more than fun for Bianca. He offered her the acceptance she craved - and a way to get even more. His friends accepting her would be fantastic. I don't care what she said about it, being rejected by his friends not once but twice hurt her. But she would never show that. Like hell were Drew's "judgey" friends going to see that they hurt her. But Drew did. He DID notice and he stood by Bianca. He told her that it didn't matter what they said - and that was when she started to believe maybe someone could want her for more than fun. After all, you don't stand up to your friends, your acceptance, and risk your image for someone who's just "fun". Then it all went to hell in their second semester. That semester is really where Drianca shined - they were each other's heroes. Drew and Bianca took turns saving each other at opposite ends of the season. The season opened with Drew trying to save Bianca from being raped by Anson - only for her to save him from being killed by Anson. This is where we really see Bianca's vulnerability poke through. Her statement after the fight is telling - "you fought for me". This is a girl who has never had anybody do something like that for her before. It was always her being taken for a while, having some fun, being used, being abused, and being discarded. She didn't expect to keep her relationship with Drew because she thought he didn't trust her after their fight at the concert. We could tell from the way she deleted the pictures on her phone. But Drew proved her wrong - he fought for her, he tried to rescue her. He came back for her. To us, that might not be much. You don't abandon somebody to be raped because you're mad at them or planning to leave them. But to Bianca, that decency is what strikes her. After a traumatizing experience all she can say is "you fought for me". And they continued to fight for each other. Drew pretended to be the one who killed Anson. As far as everyone knows, he killed a man. His own brother went to the grave believing Drew killed a man for attacking Bianca. Why? So Bianca didn't go to jail. Bianca agreed to be Vince's slave to save Drew's life. And while Drew was ignorant of this for most of the time, when he did learn about it he was horrified and immediately tried to help her. Yes, he went about it in the boneheaded, reckless way only Drew Torres can (Seriously? Yes, Drew, tell the gang leader you're taking his slave to prom, THAT WON'T PISS HIM OFF YOU NUMBSKULL), but he still did it. He bought her away from Vince for one night. Again, a simple act of decency that means so much more because, unfortunately, we just don't see it often enough. And when Vince came into prom, he couldn't let Bianca go alone. Yet again he went after her. Yet again, one of them planned on saving the other (in this case, Bianca going off to shoot Vince) only to be rescued by the other. And rescue her he did. Bianca was at her lowest point in this episode. She was willing to kill a man and go to prison for it because she believed that prison or slavery were her only two options. She didn't want to go to jail. She didn't want to be a killer. But she wanted to be a slave even less. And to her, there was no other way out. But Drew showed her that that was not the case. He took the gun out of her hand and he gave her his phone to call the cops. He gave her another way out. He let her know it would be okay - they could rat on everyone, not just Vince. She didn't need to go down the only path she saw for herself. She could do something else - something better. And there the season closed the same way it began - with one of them in the back of a cop car, with Bianca whispering "Thank you." After an entire season of saving each other, what more words do you need? That was truely the beginning of them getting back together. Drew had felt that it would be better for them to be apart and go back to normal - only to discover his "normal" now included Bianca. Even when he had a new girlfriend, he couldn't forget Bianca. I'm not going to discuss Come As You Are or Gives You Hell here because in that way lies trouble - my opinions are far from neutral and lie in the direction of "consent issues". Instead I'm going to talk about what happened afterwards. A common insult lobbed at Drew is that he doesn't deserve Bianca. This is subjective, obviously, but many agree with it - including Drew himself. I quote, "You made the right call. I'm stupid. You deserve better." This is another underlying theme between these two - feeling like they aren't good enough for each other. Bianca certainly felt that way after what happened with Vince. And that's not an uncommon feeling for survivors - but Drew didn't agree with her. He told her to her face "You need to start believing that you deserve happiness because you do." And it's true. Everybody deserves happiness (provided they don't hurt others to get it). But nobody was in the habit of telling Bianca that. Everyone else in her life had given up on her - except Drew. He's the one who told her she could be happy. She could go to school. She could make a legend of herself. Now, in season 12, Drew felt that way. He had failed to make the quiz team and couldn't remember everything. There's the same old hangup everyone threw at him - "you're stupid". And he knows Bianca is fantastic - he's never believed otherwise. He knows she's smart, strong, beautiful, and destined to be a big name someday. And he knows that he as he is isn't good enough. And on some level, I think Bianca recognizes the insecurity too. She was just there not that long ago after all. And, much like Drew, Bianca never stopped loving Drew either. No matter how angry she was after Come As You Are, she could not stop loving him. She was worried as hell when she heard he stopped a robbery - and more than that, she was pissed. She told him he shouldn't have and told him, yes, she did still love him. Then they got back together. Next came the wedding. Drew is a very impulsive person. Always was, probably always will be. But he didn't need to think it through. He knew he had money - a lot of money (hooray for persuasiveness! A plus that comes with building an image). He knew he loved her. He knew she loved him. So he asked her to marry him (and it was the cutest thing ever, oops, sorry not sorry). Problem: Mama Torres. She was not happy with her son. Now these issues were a long time coming and did not have anything to do with Bianca. They were fighting over Drew's own issues. But that didn't make it easier on Bianca. She would have a harder time with Audra's rejection. Again, the Torres family was the only one she ever really had. They were the ones who loved and supported her. The idea of losing that hurt - but she decided that she wanted to marry him anyways. Because she was NOT the old Bianca. She knew she could make her own decisions. Now in the end the marriage didn't occur (thanks Audra! -_-). They decided they wanted to be surrounded by their family and friends at an occaision like that. So they held it off and decided to spend their year being happily engaged. Drew knew that his stretch of time as "Drop out Drew" would keep him from graduating but that didn't stop him from supporting Bianca. He was her biggest cheerleader. He could barely contain himself when she got into university and he didn't even try to at her graduation. Why the hell should he? That was HIS fiancee getting everything she struggled for, everything she didn't think she could achieve, everything she wanted, and she was on top of the world. So, to him, everyone could shut up and deal with it. But that didn't stop Drew from being...well, Drew. He didn't have much lined up for him next year. So Bianca signed him up for class president. And like hell would she let him sit around in self-pity. She made sure he knew he made himself a joke. He had to work for his election, and she knew he could win. She supported him through the rest of the campaign and his eventual victory, promising him that between the presidency, non-contact sports, and her schooling, they'd be okay next year. This was a goddamned motherfucking lie. I'm not going to discuss Zoe's "date me for pills" blackmail here because A) Blackmail B) There were no romantic feelings on his end. He didn't consider it a romantic date and so it wasn't to him. People go to things like dances with other people all the time. And C) He only actually got up and went to the dance when he was higher than a kite. When you're that high, it's hard to consent to anything. So in the end, we have a non-romantic date that he didn't even remember the next day and nothing happened even if he did. Didn't affect Drianca, no need to discuss. What we do need to discuss is Adam's death. Because it DID affect Drianca. Drew was destroyed by Adam's death. He couldn't sleep and didn't have any real way to move on. Bianca, for once in her life, had a problem with Drew she couldn't fix. And she could only stay for so long to help take care of him. She had to make sure he didn't fall apart while she was there. But when she went back to university...well, I don't see her as coming back very often. It just hurt too much to watch the people she loved be in that much pain, pain she couldn't fix, as well as face the death of her friend. So she buried herself in school work. That was the beginning of the end to be brutally honest. We were supposed to see Drianca stop talking as much and slowly and surely grow apart. It's not a bad thing. It happens to a lot of couples who go long distance, even the best ones. People change and learn and grow. What was once right might not be anymore. People change their minds and move on. It sucks hard chunks, but it's life. I say "supposed to" because that is so not what we saw. We had episodes with no mention of them, yes, but we also saw the phone calls we did have. They were FINE. The only one that really hinted they were growing apart was the one where Bianca was working on homework and Drew didn't get it. And this is DREW. Drew not understanding homework involving political policy, history, economics, and sociology is par for the fucking course. If that was adequate foreshadowing, I'll kiss a pig! There is a right way and a wrong way to foreshadow the end of a heavyweight couple and sorry, Degrassi, that ain't one of the right ways. The best way to do it would have been to have them not talk. Have Bianca go back to school, bury herself, and not talk to him. No "sexy messages" on the phone, no happy mentioning of her, no happy tone when she hears from him. No. Nothing. Then that phone call where we see them "grow apart" looks like they're fucking growing apart and not just having an off phone call because Bianca's busy and Drew's being a bonehead as usual. I've seen a lot of discussion over their break up. I've heard people say Drew couldn't accept her dumping him and so he twisted it around so he could dump her. I have to wonder what episode they saw, cause it sure wasn't the one I saw! Drew couldn't accept the break up, yes, but it was because he thought it was unnecessary. He didn't think they needed to end their relationship. He felt they could be saved - he thought he saved it when Bianca was so happy at the banquet. It wasn't until he talked to Clare and realized sometimes people need to move on with their lives that he saw that it was necessary. Bianca wasn't the same girl she was when she graduated. She needed to move on and be someone else - being tied to Drew was being tied to "Boiler Room Bianca" - a past she understandably is eager to forget. So he does the mature thing and lets her go. Even if it hurts. Drianca had a profound impact on both characters involved. It made Drew less tied to his image and more willing to tell people to stick it. It made him stand up and do what he needed to do. He was fearless when he was with Bianca. He was willing to do anything. And, most importantly, he could look at Bianca and know she wasn't judging him. She didn't think he was stupid. She didn't think he was worthless. To her, he could do anything. So he tried to do everything for her. It was good for Bianca too. I laugh at the people who hated Bianca in season 10, love her now, but still think Drew didn't do anything for her. Those people need to wake up and realize that the Bianca we have now wouldn't be here without Drew. She would be in the hallway looking for a hook up, or out shooting up in a club somewhere. She'd still be the same Bianca they knew and hated. Because Drew is what made her change. I'm not saying he made her the resilient, brave, selfless, loving, passionate, intelligent woman she is because that would be a lie - you can't teach those things. They're inside of you. The problem was Bianca didn't believe that. She didn't believe that she was worth much. She thought she was destined to be used, abused, and thrown away, because that's the way everyone treated her - like she was bad news before she was given a chance. Drew didn't believe that and he encouraged her every step of the way - he encouraged her to go to prom, he encouraged her to call the police, he encouraged her to apply for university, and most importantly he encouraged her to be HAPPY. Because that's what Drew wanted for her. He wanted her to be happy. Because she deserved it. That encouragement is what brought out her inner qualities - and the danger of losing him is what brought out others (Ex. Her selflessness was demonstrated via her agreeing to Vince's deal). There's a lot of negative things to say about Drianca. They fight a lot, they homewreck, Drew's cheated, they shame each other, they didn't last. But there's more positive things to say too. They supported each other. They helped each other. They give each other space to breath and be themselves, while still dragging them into reality when they need it. They changed each other. They loved each other. And at the end of they day, they fought for each other. That's why I will never stop shipping them. I have my ranks of OTPs - ones I can replace, ones that I can't replace but can still give up, and those that I will never ever be able to stop loving. Drianca is one of the last ones. Because they're real. I can see and more importantly, I can feel the love they had for each other. I'm not upset about their break up because I feel certain that they'll be back one day. Even if it's not in the show. They'll find a way. Whether it's catching up over coffee at Audra's over break, attending the same university, or running into each other someday, I believe they'll be back. Because they've got each other. http://degrassi.wikia.com/wiki/File:Drianca_%3D(.gif 'Til the world explodes. Hashtag DriancaAppreciationLife Also, because I'm a dork: Drianca Playlist Wanted - Hunter Hayes Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion A Thousand Years - Christina Perri I Can't Help Falling In Love With You - Elvis Presley Invisible - Hunter Hayes True Colors - Cyndi Lauper We Found Love - Rihanna All of Me - John Legend Just Give Me A Reason - P!nk She's Everything - Brad Paisley Good Morning Beautiful - Steve Holy It's Your Love - Tim McGraw & Faith Hill Lucky - Jason Mraz Ours - Taylor Swift Mine - Taylor Swift My Wish - Rascal Flatts Still Into You - Paramore Take My Breath Away - Berlin Then - Brad Paisley Laughed Until We Cried - Jason Aldean Crashed - Daughtry The Way You Love Me - Faith Hill You Always Make Me Smile - Kyle Andrews You Got Me - Colbie Caillat You're Still The One - Shania Twain I Won't Give Up On Us - Jason Mraz My Best Friend - Tim McGraw Anchor - Mindy Gledhill Faithfully - Journey Everything - Michael Buble http://degrassi.wikia.com/wiki/File:Drianca_GIF.gif